


Of dragons and monsters and happiness

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Smut, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-02
Updated: 2013-09-02
Packaged: 2017-12-25 09:40:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/951583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Alice, the kindergarden teacher, goes on maternity leave, someone new comes into Merlin's and Arthur's life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of dragons and monsters and happiness

**Author's Note:**

> This has Merlin in a way I've never written him before. I had so much fun with him in this. I hope, you'll have fun, too. :)
> 
> And I still think that AO3 should have a warning for fluff...

Arthur smiled as Merlin wrapped his small arm around his neck and sleepily sucked on his thumb as he carried him into the room. “We’re here, champ.”

Merlin rubbed his face against Arthur’s shoulder. “Don’t wanna go, daddy.”

Holding Merlin’s plush dragon up, Arthur kissed the sleepy boy’s cheek. “Dragoon will keep you company. And look, your friends are there already. Looks like Gwen wants to paint with you, why don’t you go over and say hello?” Arthur set his son down and watched him padding over to the girl with the wild locks. 

Arthur smiled after him and turned around to say hi to Alice, the playschool teacher but instead was greeted by a huge bloke with a friendly smile. 

“Mr. Pendragon!” The man held out his hand. “I’m Percy, trying to replace Alice while she’s on maternity leave.”

“Call me Arthur.” They shook hands and Arthur tried not to stare. “Nice meeting you. I think Merlin talked about you. But with him, you can never be sure.” He smiled.

“Oh yeah,” Percy grinned, “quite the imagination, your little man. For a moment he had me convinced that Dragoon was a real dragon.”

Arthur laughed. “For him, Dragoon is real.”

It looked as if Percy wanted to answer to that, but loud shouting and crying from the far end of the room caught his attention. “Gwaine! Leave Sophia alone! Gwaine! Put that sword down!” He threw Arthur an apologetic look. “I’ll better separate those two. It was nice meeting you, Arthur.”

Arthur stood for a moment and looked after Percy. What a gorgeous man! At six feet, Arthur wasn’t of the small kind either, but Percy was about a head taller and seemed to consist only of muscle. And.... He was pulled out of his reverie when Merlin tugged at the leg of his jeans. 

“Daddy?”

“Yes, champ?”

“Bye.” 

Arthur chuckled at that. “Bye, champ. Have a wonderful day.” With that, he turned and left. Merlin was all sleepy in the morning but as soon as he met his friends, he was bouncing with energy. 

Usually, Arthur didn’t think too much about his son during the day. He knew Merlin was in capable hands and if an emergency happened, they would call him right away. This gave him the freedom to do his job and pick the boy up late in the afternoon to spend a bit of quality time with him. 

But today, Arthur’s thoughts wandered back to the playschool. Or rather, to that bloke who’d seemed oversized in the middle of 4 year-olds. Oversized and just the right size. Arthur allowed himself a little daydream that involved the playschool teacher and what he’d do to him but that was interrupted by a phone call from the headquarters. So he went back to work. 

When it was time to pick Merlin up, Arthur checked his looks in the back-view mirror twice before he made his way in.

He needn’t have worried since Merlin came running towards him, still trying to get into one sleeve of his jacket, Dragoon clutched in the other arm, a paper crown on his head. On the way home, he told Arthur all about his day and what they had done and all the things Percy had said and why Percy was so much better than Alice. 

Arthur smiled, asked questions and raised an eyebrow at the last remark. “Last week you cried because she left. You said you love her.”

Merlin, safely tucked into his kid seat in the back, pondered that for a moment. “I do! But I love him best!”

 

The weeks went on and Merlin couldn’t wait to get to playschool in the morning. When Arthur had to carry him to the room before, the boy was running there now, sometimes even leaving Dragoon back in the car. 

Every morning, Arthur and Percy exchanged a few sentences before Percy had to settle a dispute here, tend to an oh-so-injured knee there, or was dragged away by the children to read them a story. 

 

Arthur loved working from home. It saved him the time to travel into the city and with a Vice President like Leon, what could go wrong? His office at home was equipped with the latest communications electronics, so he was constantly connected with everything he wanted to be, but this phone conference was taking so much longer than he’d thought it would, and Arthur was getting bored at the bickering of some of his sales people. But this issue had to be solved and it had to be solved today. He was just demanding some answers from their representative in Bangkok when his private mobile rang. 

One glance at the number and he forgot the phone conference. Shit, he’d forgotten to pick Merlin up! He excused himself and left the room with his mobile.

“Unicorn Gardens, Mr. Pendragon? This is Percy. It seems...”

“I’m so sorry. I’m stuck here in a meeting and I don’t know how long this will take. I know it’s asked a lot, but...could you bring Merlin home?” He held his breath. This was by no means something Percy had to do. He was basically asking him a personal favour. 

“No problem, Mr. Pendragon. I think it’s on my way home anyway. We will be there right away.”

Arthur frowned, angry at himself. This had never happened before, he’d never forgotten to pick his precious little boy up. So he went back into his office and ended the phone conference after barking some orders. 

When he came into the dining room, he couldn’t help but smile. Elena, who took care of the house for him, had set the table beautifully before she’d left. The smell of tomato sauce led him to the kitchen where the pot with the sauce waited on the stove to be reheated. A huge pot with water had a note on the lid. _“Spaghetti go here, wait for the water to boil before you toss them in.”_ Arthur smiled. He knew he wasn’t the world’s greatest cook, but he wasn’t as incapable as Elena seemed to think. 

Just as he found the bowl with the salad, the door bell rang. 

He went to open it and was greeted by an enthusiastic Merlin, who babbled about cars and building sandcastles and then stormed past Arthur. 

Chuckling, Percy held Dragoon out to Arthur, who took the turquoise teddy. “Thank you so much, Percy. I was in this phone conference that seemed endless. Why don’t you...”

Before he could finish the sentence, apologising to Percy again and thanking him for bringing Merlin home, the boy stormed past him again. 

“Come on, Percy, I’ll show you my room!” He tugged at Percy’s hand.

“Champ, I’m not sure Percy has the time to see your room. We’ve taken up too much of his time already.”

The pout on the boy’s face was hard to resist.

“I have a few minutes, if it’s okay for you, Mr. Pendragon.” Percy smiled. 

“Arthur.”

“Arthur,” Percy nodded and stepped in when Arthur pushed the door open wider. 

He followed the two up the stairs, smiling at Merlin’s enthusiastic babbling and admiring the view. Percy didn’t only have a handsome face and fantastic arms, his rear was also a sight to see. He stood in Merlin’s room while the boy dragged Percy here and there, showing him his toy animals, his little desk with all the materials to draw and craft and at last the bed with the wizards on the blanket. 

“Merlin,” Arthur interrupted softly, “Elena prepared dinner, aren’t you hungry?”

Merlin tilted his head to one side, causing Percy to chuckle. “What’s for dinner?”

“Your favourite.”

Little blue eyes lit up and a huge smile spread across Merlin’s face. “Sageddi!”

“Spaghetti, yes.”

“Percy likes sageddi, too!” 

Percy chuckled again, a sound Arthur could get used to. “I do, Merlin, but this is your spaghetti.”

“Percy eats with us!” Merlin decided, a determined look on his face. 

Arthur looked at the man. “You heard him.” He grinned. “What do you say? I’d understand if you had better plans, but let me assure you, Elena makes a killer tomato sauce.”

“In that case I can’t resist, can I?” Percy let himself be dragged to Merlin’s bathroom to wash up before dinner and then came into the kitchen just as Arthur fought to get the spaghetti out of the hot water after having set up another plate on the table.

“Anything I can do to help?”

Merlin was bouncing back and forth between them, babbling happily, running away to get Dragoon and then climbed onto his high chair. 

“I just opened a bottle of wine before you two arrived. It’s over there. If you could bring that to the table?” Arthur carried the bowl with the spaghetti, set it down on the table and dished them out. “ _Mer_ lin, what did we say about sticking fingers into the food?” he scolded gently.

“That we don’t do that?” Merlin happily poked at the spaghetti. “Sauce?”

Arthur bit back a chuckle as he tied a huge bib around his son’s neck and then put sauce over the pasta that he cut in small pieces so Merlin could eat it. 

Merlin pulled at the bib. “I’m a big boy!”

“Oh, you are.” Percy jumped in. “But even big boys make a mess when they eat spaghetti sometimes.” He went back into the kitchen and came back out with two dish towels. One he gave to Arthur, the other he tied around his neck. “See? All set!”

Arthur followed Percy’s example and then poured them some wine. 

When they sat down to eat, Merlin was already shovelling spoonfuls of pasta into his mouth, distributing the sauce all over his face. 

After dinner they put the leftovers into the fridge and the dishes into the sink after cleaning up the worst mess on Merlin’s face and hands. The boy sat in his chair, clutching his dragon to his chest, and was almost asleep.

“Let’s get you to bed, Merls, shouldn’t we?” Percy lifted Merlin up and carried him upstairs. For a short moment Arthur wondered why this didn’t bother him at all. It was a nightly ritual that he carried Merlin to his room, they’d brush his teeth together, put on his pyjamas, read a story and by the end of it Merlin would be asleep. That one time when Morgana was over for a visit and tried to tuck Merlin in, Arthur had been all jealous. But with Percy, he didn’t mind. Merlin liked him, it was okay. 

When Merlin finally slept, they made their way downstairs again.

“I should...” Percy stared.

“Why don’t you...” Arthur said at the same time and they both laughed. 

Percy gestured for Arthur to go continue.

“I wondered if you might have the time to stay for another glass of wine?” Arthur’s heart was doing strange fluttery things. It had been a while since he’d asked another bloke out. Or...in. Or whatever you called it when he was already there and you wanted him to stay. 

Percy smiled a little sheepishly. “I’d love to.”

A few hours later, they still sat on the couch, nursing their wine glasses. Arthur found it easy to talk to Percy. With new people he met, he usually was a bit careful, not revealing that he was the big boss at Camelot Industries. But Percy probably knew that already from the files at the playschool and he’d seen parts of the house. He’d also seen the pictures in the frames all over the place. And even though he didn’t ask about the woman in the photos, Arthur told him that it was Mithian, Merlin’s mother. They’d gotten a divorce when Arthur finally admitted to himself that he was gay and since she was busy with her fashion label and constantly jetting through the world, Merlin hardly ever saw her. 

Percy put his hand on Arthur’s when Arthur told him that. 

Arthur found out that Percy had studied something that sounded very complicated in physics, and had worked in science for a few years before he quit and started working with children. He loved his job with the little ones. 

“But you could have made so much money!”

Percy just looked at him. “Money’s not everything, Arthur. Life’s about what makes you happy. And I’m happy with this.” 

Arthur took another sip of his wine before setting the glass down. 

“What makes you happy, Arthur? Aside from that wonderful little boy upstairs?” 

Feeling Percy scooting closer, Arthur closed his eyes. So he hadn’t imagined things. His heartbeat sped up when he felt Percy’s breath against his neck. “I think it would make me happy if I could kiss you now.” He turned his head, looked at Percy and waited for permission. 

A little smile tugged at the corner’s of Percy’s mouth. “Then go for what makes you happy.”

Percy’s lips where even better than Arthur had imagined them – and he had imagined them a lot – they were softer, warmer and even fitted better against his than he’d thought. When Percy parted his lips and their tongues slid together, Arthur stopped thinking at all. 

He just wanted Percy. Any way he could have him. He explored soft skin over tight muscles, groaned when he felt large hands on him, their clothes miraculously gone without him remembering taking them off. When he saw Percy’s huge prick, Arthur groaned. 

“Is it...,” Percy blushed. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Arthur couldn’t take his eyes off it. “It’s beautiful.”

“Most guys run at this point.” Percy already tried to scramble up, but Arthur held him back. 

“I’m not most guys. Fuck, Percy, this is the most wonderful cock I’ve ever seen. And I want it in me.” He sat back on his haunches and looked at the other man. 

Percy didn’t seem convinced. “Are you sure?”

Arthur reached over to cup Percy’s face. He wanted to tell him yes, he was sure, he wanted this monster cock inside him, if it was the last thing he did, but he just nodded. Then he jumped up and ran to the bathroom to get lube and some condoms. 

When he came back, tossing the stuff on the little table behind the couch, he leaned in to kiss Percy again. With the few guys he’d been with, it had always been a struggle for dominance, a fight, tongues used aggressively, jaws pushed together so hard it almost hurt. Percy was different. His kisses were light, playful, chaste in a non-chaste way, and that even made sense in Arthur’s mind. Percy tasted sweet, like wine with a hint of the tomato sauce and something that seemed to be just him. 

After long moments, Arthur broke the kiss to press his lips against Percy’s jaw, mouth down his throat, pausing when Percy made a wonderful sound when he found a sensitive spot. He nipped at that spot, wanting to suck, to mark, but just ran the tip of his tongue over it and kissed it before worrying it lightly with his teeth. 

He pulled back to look at Percy’s massive chest and ran his hands down the defined arms, a strangled little moan escaping him. Arthur knew he was fit, he worked out regularly, but compared to this man, he was fat. But the way Percy looked at him, like he was good enough to eat, left no space for self-consciousness. 

Arthur ran the tip of his tongue along Percy’s collar bone before letting it travel down to one of his nipples. He smiled against the huge pecs when Percy moaned and the nub perked up against his mouth. So he took his time sucking, nibbling, biting it before giving the other nipple the same attention.

He loved how Percy just let him explore, let him do what he wanted and was so responsive to all of his caresses. It wasn’t that Percy was all passive. He kissed Arthur’s skin where he could reach it, explored his back and arms with his hands and Arthur loved the way Percy’s long fingers played with his hair, not forcing him any way, just keeping him steady when he found a good spot. It sent shivers down his spine when Percy started to stroke his thumb just underneath the hairline at his neck and he started licking down Percy’s abdomen, feeling the wonderful six pack underneath his tongue and lips. 

Then he straddled Percy’s hips, fumbled around for the stuff he tossed onto the table and shoved them into Percy’s hands. Arthur rubbed against Percy’s chest and kissed him deeply, not really caring that Percy was left to fiddle with the tube of lube without seeing what he was doing. 

Arthur hissed and shoved against the lubed-up fingers that found his ring of muscles and teased. Damn, it had been quite a while since someone did that to him. He lifted up on his knees a bit to give Percy better access and moaned when the other man tugged at the skin of his shoulder and neck with his lips. 

He cried out when he felt the huge fingers finally pushing inside and blinked when all action stopped. 

“What’s wrong?” Percy looked at him with concern in his eyes and started to pull his fingers out.

“Don’t! Go on.” Arthur panted. “It’s just been a while. And...” he grinned, “you’re so hot!” He rubbed his erection against Percy’s abdomen and moved on the fingers in him. 

“Likewise,” came a grunted answer as Percy fingered more lube up Arthur’s arse and slapped Arthur’s hand away when he tried to reach for the magnificent cock. “If you do that....I’ll come right away.”

“Hurry.” Arthur lifted himself up enough so Percy could fumble the condom on, grabbing at Percy’s short hair to angle their heads for another heated kiss. He couldn’t wait much longer, he wanted this man inside him, needed him so bad. 

He felt large hands gripping his waist and guiding him down onto that massive cock. Arthur closed his eyes and tried to follow the voice that told him to relax and breathe. Even though he was almost whimpering with need, it hurt like fuck when the huge head breached him. He leaned his forehead against Percy’s shoulder and panted. 

“Sshhhh, relax.” Percy rubbed soothing circles with his fingers on Arthur’s back. “Breathe, evenly, breathe with me Arthur.” 

Slowly, with lots of little pauses, that monster of a cock travelled into Arthur and he loved every second of it. Once the initial pain of being stretched far beyond anything he’d ever experienced subsided, it was pure bliss. Like his whole world evolved around Percy’s prick inside his arse. First he just sat there, not moving, getting used to the feeling, enjoying it, but then he had to move and – biting Percy’s shoulder – Arthur started riding him. 

Percy threw his head back, but held on to Arthur’s hips, guiding him, pushing him onto his dick deeper and faster as he thrust up. Holding on to Percy’s shoulders, Arthur leaned back and let his head roll back, panting hard, moaning each time his erection slapped against Percy’s skin when he slumped down on him again. 

It didn’t take long before Percy just held him in place and started spilling inside him, the huge cock expanding just a tad more before it pulsed. Arthur tightened around him, adding more pressure and moaned again when Percy’s fingers found his cock and started jerking him off. 

Arthur came harder than he could remember and slumped against Percy’s chest. When Percy turned his head, he captured his mouth in a sloppy breathless kiss. 

They lay there in silence to calm down and Arthur frowned when he heard the sound he made when Percy’s softening dick slipped out of him. He’d never heard himself making such a sound before but Percy just pressed a smiling kiss on his shoulder. 

When they finally disentangled and took care of the mess they’d made, Arthur knew what he wanted. “Stay?”

But Percy shook his head. “I can’t, Arthur. This is...”

Oh, so this had been a one-time thing for Percy. Okay, Arthur could live with that, he was a big boy. 

“...it might get complicated. With Merlin and all.”

Arthur felt a pang of guilt. For the first time since his son was born, he had put his own pleasure and needs before Merlin’s. So he just nodded. 

“But if you want to...” Percy pulled his t-shirt back on and his voice was muffled. “...we could repeat this once in a while.” He grinned. “Or more often than that.”

Walking Percy to the door, Arthur returned the grin. “I’d very much like that.”

 

The next day, Arthur feared it to be awkward when he dropped Merlin at the playschool, but Percy beamed widely and agreed to go out with Arthur the following Friday.

It didn’t take long before it became a routine that Percy brought Merlin home on Friday afternoons and stayed for the weekend. They did fun things during the day and Merlin still talked about their trip to the zoo weeks later, or that time they played frisbee in the park, or when they went to see some fireworks at a fair. After the little one was tucked in and asleep, Arthur and Percy got their quality time, sometimes fucking urgently, sometimes making love tenderly all night long, sometimes just sitting outside with a glass of wine, talking. 

But neither of them talked about the time that came closer. The time Alice would return and Percy would move on to a new job. 

Percy brought Merlin over that one last time and stood in the doorway. “So...,” he took a deep breath, “this is it, I guess?”

Arthur had tried not to think of this moment. He didn’t know how to handle it. How to explain to his precious little boy that Percy wouldn’t come back. How to explain to himself that Percy wouldn’t come back, that their wonderful time was over. They’d never talked about it, so he had no idea what Percy would do, what he’d want. But he knew he couldn’t let him slip away like that. “No.”

“No?” Was that hope lighting up Percy’s features?

“Not if you don’t want to.” They still hadn’t moved away from the door. 

“Arthur...what....”

Taking a deep breath, Arthur looked up at Percy. “Remember what you told me that first night? To go for what makes me happy?”

Percy nodded but said nothing, just looking intently at Arthur.

“I’ll just do it, I’ll go for what makes me happy now. Don’t go, Percy. Stay. With me. With us.” 

He was about to babble on about how happy Percy made him and that he didn’t want to go on without him in his life, but Percy shut him up with a kiss. 

When they finally broke the kiss for air, Percy’s eyes sparkled and a huge grin showed on his face. 

“So...what do you say?” Arthur’s heart was beating wildly, needing to hear what he saw on Percy’s face.

“How can I tell you to go for what makes you happy if I didn’t do the same?” Percy nodded. “You won’t get rid of me so easily now.” He wrapped his arms around Arthur again. “There’s one more thing I need you to know.”

“And what would that be?” Arthur mock-frowned.

“I love you.” 

Arthur melted even more against Percy as he kissed him deeply


End file.
